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You probably have had of this condition before. And what comes to your mind most likely whenever you hear of “dementia” is old age. Dementia is reduction in the mental capacity of an individual. It is often so severe that it affects daily functions of an individual. It is sometimes called “senility”, but it is inappropriate to refer to it as “senility”. This is because senility makes it look like a normal part of ageing experience, i.e. it is disease that occurs because a person is becoming older(usually greater than 65 years). Many diseases can cause development of dementia. Some of them are Alzheimer disease, vascular dementia which occurs after a stroke, dementia with Lewis Bodies(DLB), mixed dementia, Parkinson’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, normal pressure hydrocephalus, Huntington’s disease, Wernicke-korsakoff’s syndrome. Out of all the causes listed for causing dementia, the most common cause is Alzheimer’s disease. Few out of all the people affected by dementia are less than 65 years of age. In the year 2000, it was suggested that 18 million to 25 million people throughout the world have dementia. By the year 2020, the number of people worldwide that would have been affected by dementia. In the united kingdom, it has been suggested that  more than one million of the total population will have dementia by the year 2025, and more than 2 million of the total population will be having dementia by 2051. According to the New York Times, dated November 21, 2016 dementia statistics among the Americans decreased between the statistical value obtained in year 2000 and the ones obtained in the year 2012.

What is the risk factor for Dementia?

 

Risk factors for dementia depend on the risk factors for various diseases that cause dementia. They include age, family history, genetics, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression, head injury, sleep problems, midlife obesity, smoking cigarette, heavy consumption of alcohol.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other factors that have been listed above including excessive consumption of alcohol, smoking cigarettes, etc, also have their ways in which they can make you be at risk of having dementia.

 

What is the main cause of Dementia

 

The main disease that can put you at risk of having dementia is Alzheimer disease.  Most of the people having dementia today have Alzheimer’s disease as the underlying cause.

 

     How to lower your chances of getting Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease

 

If you want your risk for developing dementia to reduce, you need first to know that there are some risk factors that you cannot do anything to prevent them. They are your family history, genetics, and age. Albeit you can lower other risk factors for dementia that has been listed above. Also, you can lower your risk of developing some of the diseases that can cause dementia, e.g., Alzheimer’s disease, normal pressure hydrocephalus, etc. You can reduce your chance of developing Alzheimer disease by stopping smoking, keeping your alcohol consumption to a minimal level.Dementia is a disease that has many underlying causes. If you have it, your cognitive functions will become impaired.

 

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References

 

  1. Maj M, Sartorius N. Dementia. Chichester: Wiley; 2000.

 

  1. Dementia – Signs, Symptoms, Causes, Tests, Treatment, Care | alz.org. Along. 2018. Available at: http://www.alz.org/what-is-dementia.asp. Accessed June 9, 2018.

 

3. Danette C. Taylor F. Dementia Types: Symptoms, Stages, and Early Signs. MedicineNet. 2018. Available at: https://www.medicinenet.com/dementia/article.htm. Accessed June 9, 2018